Once Upon a Time The Horned King
by Kraken Guard
Summary: Part of the "Once Upon a Time" series A Magical Storybook is stolen, and it's pages are scattered to a place called Walt Disney World, where the characters from these stories manifest themselves, and are brought to life. This is the story of the Horned King.
1. An Introduction

Once upon a time, in the mystic land of Prydain, there was once a king so cruel and so evil that even the gods feared him...

Since no prison could hold him, he was thrown alive into a crucible of molten iron ; and there his demonic spirit remained, imprisoned in the form of a great, black cauldron...

For uncounted centuries, the Black Cauldron remained hidden, waiting while evil men searched for it, for it was said that whoever possessed the cauldron had the power to resurrect an army of deathless warriors ; and with them, rule the world...

Once upon a time, in that very same world lived another king...

Much like his predecessor, this king, too, was known for his cruelty and malice... He travelled far with his huntsmen - thieves, bandits and other unsavory cutthroats - and waged war across the land, with pain and despair, fear, and destruction following closely in his footsteps.

No man could match this wicked king in combat - save one, but he had perished many years ago to the weight of time.

... But time had no affect on this wicked king, for he was no mortal man - not anymore, for he had forsaken his humanity long, long ago ; and in exchange, he became a vile creature : a cadaverous monster with diabolical horns, twisted and sharp upon his head ; and thus he rose to power, and became known only as the Horned King.

For many long years, Prydain had been plagued by the tyranny of this vicious overlord... Ruthless in battle, the Horned King offered no mercy to those who opposed him. He was a fearsome warrior who's presence inspired fear in the hearts of his opponents, as well as those who followed him. The Horned King was practically unbeatable ; but not so were his huntsmen, who were merely human.

No. The huntsmen were not unbeatable fighters... The Horned King had an ambition - _a terrible ambition to conquer the world, and rule as a god among mortal men_ \- but it was not one he could achieve with warriors who were merely flesh and blood.

 _He needed an army. An army of deathless warriors..._

And thus, the Black Cauldron entered the story...

The Horned King had learned of the legend surrounding the Black Cauldron. But the Black Cauldron had not been seen for a long count of years, so no one knew of the cauldron's whereabouts - and, as time went on, began to doubt the existence of this terrible artifact. And thus, it remained elusive to the Horned King for many years, until he discovered the existence of an animal with magical properties : An oracular pig under the care of Dallben.

With these prophetic powers, this magical pig could lead the Horned King to the legendary Black Cauldron. And so, he sent his terrible Gwythaints to search for the beast... The pig was found, and immediately brought to the Horned King's lair. However, a young boy - the keeper of the oracular pig - had followed the Gwythaints, and snuck into the Horned King's castle ; and before the location to the Black Cauldron was revealed, the boy had made off with the pig.

He, and two others, had escaped the Horned King... Once more, the Horned King set out his winged Gwythaints to follow the escapees under the notion that they would lead him back to the pig.

But when they did find the boy again, no pig did they find... Instead, the boy had found something greater. He had led the Horned King to the Black Cauldron itself, hidden deep within the depths of the Morva marsh.

 _At long last, the Horned King had obtained his prize..._

With the Black Cauldron now in his possession, the Horned King performed the terrible ritual, and the powers of the Black Cauldron, which had remained dormant for more than two-thousand years, had awoken... And the dead had arisen, ready to serve he who controlled the Black Cauldron.

The Horned King's ambition was nearing fulfilment. It had only been a matter of time before the Cauldron-Born would march out to conquer all of Prydain.

Yet all of this came to a sudden halt when a most peculiar creature came sneaking inside the Horned King's fortress to free his friends... And with one heroic act, sacrificed himself to the Black Cauldron, rendering it's power stagnant once more...

As he watched his army fall, crumbling and reverting back to their inanimate state, the Horned King flew into a rage. He suspected the pig-keeper to be responsible for crippling the cauldron's powers.

The Black Cauldron had become hungry... The Horned King threw the boy toward the cauldron, for revenge, and as another sacrifice. But the Black Cauldron had no desire for the boy.

In spite of his dedication to the legend of the Black Cauldron, the Horned King was oblivious to the curse of the cauldron : whoever harnessed the powers of the Black Cauldron would become bound to it... The Horned King discovered this too late when he himself was pulled toward the cauldron. And try as he could, he was unable to escape it's terrible vortex, which boiled his skin and burned the marrow in his bones, tearing his soul from his body, and ripping his living vessel asunder.

And so too did the Horned King become a prisoner within the Black Cauldron - a prisoner to the Death-Lord within... _The pain was unlike anything he had ever imagined. As if he were being drowned, his lungs filled with scalding water ; scorching-hot blades digging deep into his body like sharp, cruel nails..._ This was to be the Horned King's fate : a prisoner to eternal torment.

Until now...


	2. Chapter 1

_"No! You'll not have me...! My power cannot die...! Curse you!"_

 _The lich could only stare in horror as he was pulled closer and closer toward the Black Cauldron, it's iron surface burning hot red, illuminating the face of the Death-Lord carved upon it's side. He clung to the ledges of the cauldron's opening, the winds whipping up around him with the intensity of a thunderstorm... Caught within the current of the cauldron, the Horned King's powers were severed._

 _From within his own body, the Horned King could feel his blood boil and burn ; his skin began to bubble and crack, breaking off from his body, little by little._

 _There was no escape from the current of the cauldron... The lich could only cry out, screaming in terror and agony as his body was torn from the inside-out, his soul seized by the Death-Lord, and dragged down into the deep darkness of the Black Cauldron..._

He had it within his grasp... He had summoned the Cauldron-Born... Victory had been within his grasp.

 _... How did it come to this?_

He was imprisoned... There, within the very thing he had sought after for so many years... There, within that hell - _that prison of eternal torture_ \- for all eternity.

There, he endured endless pain and suffering... He could not rest. He could not scream. He could not escape. He was alone. The only bit of solace he had were from his own thoughts : _Of holding the pig-boy in his hand and choking the life from him... The Horned King wanted him to suffer ; wanted to make him regret that he had ever been born._

Hate was the only companion he had. But it would not soothe him of the pain he endured.

 _His insides burned ; his lungs filled with hot ash ; his arms and legs restrained by heated shackles ; red-hot blades piercing every inch of his body. He was drowned. Try as he could to swim to the surface, the Horned King would only be pulled right back._

He was exhausted... He had asked - begged - kneeled down before the Death-Lord in the hopes that he would be granted mercy... But the Horned King was given no respite.

 _Oh. How he longed to see the pig-boy again... To make that miserable whelp draw his last breath - to see the light leave his eyes. But these were merely wild dreams of the Horned King. His body had been destroyed, and his spirit imprisoned within the Black Cauldron, with no hopes of escape._

 _It had felt as if an eternity had passed... Followed by another... And another... And another... He could not rest. He could not scream. And he could never, ever escape. He was doomed to drown in the deep, dark depths of pain for all eternity._

... But fate had decided that this would not be the end to the Horned King's tale. That he would be partaking in another story that would intermingle with many others.

 _"... A light...? Had I seen... A light...?_

 _... The pain... I... Cannot feel..._

 _... What is... Happening...?"_

Like a terrible storm that had begun to dissipate, the pain had subsided, and a strange calm had washed over him... All was dark, save for the faint flickering of light. _And there was sound - birdsong, and the sound of leaves rustling in the wind._

 _Everything was peaceful... There was a soft brush against his face... A gentle caress against his cheek, but from no hand did it come._

 _Wind... There was no wind within the Black Cauldron... Merely a suffocating darkness. But now, he no longer felt restrained._

 _He was... At ease. There was no more pain ; just numbness. And a nagging confusion in the back of his mind._

 _Where was he...? Was this some form of trick from the Death-Lord? To lure his victim into a false sense of security?_

As his mind raced with thoughts, the more he had begun to grow restless, put-off by this new state of calm, his fingers tightening around... _Grass?_

This alone was enough to set the Horned King on alarm... And at last, he had awoken to a sudden, stabbing pain in his gut. His stomach churning, the lich began to choke, turning onto his side and expelling a foul, green slime from his mouth. The ectoplasm hissed, sizzling as it poured upon the ground with a sickening splat... After several long minutes, gagging and coughing, the lich remained there, clutching his stomach with a shudder, his breath heavy and hard.

The numbness gradually abated. The lich opened his eyes once again, and took in his surroundings... The environment was covered with trees, their branches spreading outward and blocking out the sky, save for the occasional ray of light which slipped past the many leaves.

Though the cloud of disorientation hung heavily over the Horned King, the lich willed himself up onto his feet, albeit not without struggle. He stumbled, leaning against one of the many trees for support... _He felt weak. Drained of strength, ready to collapse. But he refused to give in to fatigue._ With another breath, the Horned King pushed himself away from the tree to stand by himself. _An effort on it's own, but he would manage... He would have to._

Wrapping his arms around himself, the lich pressed onward, passing through thick overgrowth, his robes snagging onto the occasional twig, causing the fabric to tear... But the Horned King held no concern. He continued on ; but to where, he did not quite know... He didn't have a set goal in mind, save to find his bearings...

To his surprise, it had only taken him a short few minutes before the trees began to clear ; and up ahead lay a path ; and along it's side, old buildings made of stone... In the air, he could hear the faint sound of music, soft and ambient, and the voices of many people.

 _So he was much closer to civilization than he had anticipated_... The Horned King showed no fear ; and without a single trace of hesitation, he stepped out onto the road... To his left, he could make out the shape of a great, snow-tipped mountain over the buildings and trees ; and to his right, a young woman stood with a wheeled chair upon which a small child sat, both frozen, wide-eyed at the sight of the horned lich.

 _As was expected..._ But the Horned King held little concern toward the young woman. Disregarding the woman, he turned his attention in the direction of the mountain, and concluded that he would head in that direction.

The woman in turn had also concluded that she would turn back in the direction from which she came, steering her stroller and walking away with with a quickened pace.


End file.
